The Cinema Museum

Address: Dugard Way, Lambeth.

Opening hours: It is only open by appointment when it comes to tours. So, you have to plan early and call in advanced before you can bring along your students, family or group of friends for a trip down cinema memory lane.

Cinema lovers out there will delight in visiting the Cinema Museum in London. The museum is a fairly new charitable organisation, having only been founded by Martin Humphries and Ronald Grant in 1986. Humphries and Grant started out the museum making use of their own collections and paraphernalia of cinema memorabilia and history. You can find the Cinema Museum at 2 Dugard Way in Lambeth, a London Borough. The borough used to be the administration block for the Lambeth Workhouse, which in turn had significance in cinema history. Charlie Chaplin used to live in that workhouse when he and his mother suffered poverty.

As for the museum, it has a programme that serves up talks and special events. It is only open by appointment when it comes to tours. So, you have to plan early and call in advanced before you can bring along your students, family or group of friends for a trip down cinema memory lane. Call 020 7840 2200 or email info@cinemamuseum.org.uk for information on bookings.

So, what should you expect to see in the Cinema Museum? As it tries to celebrate everything about cinema, it showcases items that had been used in film exhibitions and actual productions. You get to recreate what it would have been like to watch the cinema through the years. The museum also offers a view of an extensive collection of film memorabilia, which includes not only posters and tickets from the 1940s and 1950s but also ushers’ uniforms, popcorn cartons, art deco cinema chairs and ashtrays. There are also books and photographs about the cinema as well as 17 million feet of actual movie film.

While the museum is managed as a charity, booked tours have admission fees. Each adult has to pay £10 while each child has to pay £7. Aside from these ticket fees, the museum earns income through syndicating photos of items in its archive. Another way in which the museum earns income is through ticketed events. The ticket prices during the current season are followed. For example, spring 2012 serves up events and shows for £8.50 when ticket is paid in advanced and for £10 at the door.

No matter how much you have to pay, you will love the event if you are an ardent cinema lover. The museum is a must-see for film students, film lovers and just about anyone who wants to have a unique experience in London.